About Me

About Me

I have a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto. I am registered with the Ontario College of Social workers and Social Service Workers and a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers. I have also completed a one year externship in Narrative Therapy at the Hincks-Dellcrest Institute in Toronto. I am a clinical social worker, which means that the focus of my training has been on psychological counselling and psychotherapy.

I am also a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher (MBSR teacher for short), and have completed extensive training with the Center for Mindfulness in Massachusetts, USA, founded by Jon Kabat-Zin, a renowned spokesperson in the field of mindfulness . Mindfulness, as an approach, has been found to be extremely beneficial in terms of stress reduction and emotional/psychological well-being. I teach 8 weeks MBSR programs where participants learn how to cultivate mindfulness in their daily lives. My teaching stems from my own practice, as I have been a yoga and meditation practitioner for a number of years. To further my knowledge- and deepen my practice – of yoga, I also completed a 200 hour Yoga Teacher training program.

I have fourteen years of experience working in the field of psychological counselling/ therapy. I worked for ten years as a counsellor at Trent University Counselling Centre where I provided counselling to students for a wide range of psychological issues. Presently I am working as a Mental health Clinician for the Peterborough Family Health Team, providing psychological counselling/therapy to a wide range of patients/clients referred to me by their physicians. Working in these different settings has helped me develop solid clinical counselling skills.

The focus of my practice is adult individuals, a spectrum that spans from young adults to more mature individuals. I consider myself a holistic practitioner, which means that I work with clients who face a wide diversity of life challenges. I draw from a number of therapeutic approaches, including solution focused therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy (all client-centered and strengths based approaches) and the mindfulness approach. Working in a collaborative way with each individual client, I tailor my approach to best suit each individual’s unique needs and goals.

Emmanuelle Festas-Keogh
EFK Counselling

To book an appointment, or to get more information, call me at 705-930-7977.